348 MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS. XXII: alit Hymn to Christ Jesus, the Eternal Life. I WHERE shall the tribes of Adam find The sov'rcign good to fill the mind Ye sons of moral wisdom, show The springswhence living waters flow A Say, will the Stoic's flinty heart Melt, and this cordial juice impart? Could Plato find these blissful stre:,ms Amongst his raptures and his dreams ! 4 In vain I ask ; for nature's power Ext'nds but to this mortal hour : 'Twas but a poor relief she gave Against the terrors of the grave. 4 Jesus, our kinsman, and our God, Array'd in majesty and blood, Thou art our life; our souls in thee Possess a full felicity. 5 All our immortal hopes are laid In thee our surety and our head ; Thy crdss, thy cradle, and thy throne, Are big with glories yet unknown. 6 Let Atheists scoff,andJews blaspheme The eternal life, and Jesu's name; A word of his almighty breath Dooms the rebellious world to death. T But let my soul forever lie Beneath the blessings of thine eye ; 'Tisheav'n on earth, 'tin beav'n above To see thy face, to taste thy love. XXIII. Distant Thunder. WHEN we hear thethunder rumbling in some distant quar- ter of the heavens, we sit calm and secure amidst our business or diversions, we feel no terrors about us, and apprehend no dan- ger. When we see the slender streaks of lightning play afar off in the horizon of an evening sky, we look on and amuse our- selves as with an agreeable spectacle, without the least fear or concern. But, lo, the dark cloud rises by degrees, it grows black as night, and big with tempest ; it spreads as it rises to the mid heaven, and now hangs directly over us ; the flashes of lightning grow broad and strong, and like sheets of ruddy fire, they blaze terribly all round the hemisphere. We bar the doors, and win- dows, and every avenue of light, but we bar them all in vain ; the flames break in at every cranny, and threaten swift destruc- tion: The thunder follows, bursting from the cloud with sudden and tremendous clashes ; the voice of the Lord is redoubled with violence, and overwhelms us with terror ; it rattles over our heads, as though the whole house were broken down at once with a stroke from heaven, and were tumbling on us amain to bury us in the ruins. Happy the soul whose hope in his God composes all his passions amidst these storms of nature, and renders his whole deportment peaceful and serene amidst the frights and hur- ries of weak spirits and unfortified minds. What lesson shall we derive from such a scene as this ? Me- thinks I see here in what manner the terrors of the book of God and the threatnings of divine vengeance are received and en- tertained by secure sinners. These threatnings appear to them like streaks of lightning afar off : 'l'he most dreadful predictions of the fury of God sound in their ears but like the feeble murmurs of the "sky,, and far distant thunder. 'rile poor among mankind go onto pursue their labours of life, and the rich their vain amuse- ments; they have no fear about these future storms afar off, nor any solicitude to avoid them. But the hour is hastening when
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